by A. M. Myers
“You got this, girl,” I whisper to myself, hoping like hell I’m lying as I reach the door and pull it open. Wyatt’s hazel eyes slam into mine as he towers over me with both hands gripping the door frame around him. He’s breathing heavily and the determination steeling his gaze terrifies me.
“We need to talk.”
I shake my head. “No… I don’t think we do.”
“Well, you’re wrong,” he says as he releases the frame and gently moves me to the side so he can let himself into my apartment.
Fuck.
Shit.
Damn.
Blowing out a breath, I close the door and turn to him as he paces through my living room, his gaze taking in the decor before he freezes and I squeeze my eyes closed.
Shit.
He just saw the framed photo from our wedding that is sitting on my bookshelf.
“Look at me.”
My eyes snap open, almost like I have no choice but to obey him, and I meet his gaze as my heart thunders in my ears and my hands shake. Questions fill his stare and my body tenses, waiting for him to make the first move but he doesn’t say anything. In the closed space of my apartment, I can feel his body calling out to me, demanding that I close the distance between us and let him wrap his arms around me. A shiver runs down my spine. I swear I can almost feel it despite the five feet separating us and I resist the urge to close my eyes and soak it up.
Fuck.
It’s been ten years but absolutely nothing about how much he affects me has changed. He takes a step forward and my heart skips a beat. Sighing, he seems to shake off whatever just happened between us and he takes two steps back before running his fingers through his hair.
“Eden told me the truth,” he finally says, crossing his arms over his chest and I can’t help but admire the way his arms stretch the sleeves of his t-shirt.
Whoa, those are new…
Yanking my gaze away, I walk around him and grab my wine glass off of the windowsill before turning toward the kitchen. “The truth about what?”
I figure playing innocent is my best bet since I’m sure as hell not telling him anything and informing him of that would only push him harder to uncover the secrets I have kept locked away for years.
Setting my wine glass on the counter, I turn back to him and arch a brow in question. He narrows his eyes. I fight back a nervous smile.
Shit.
I never was very good at lying to him.
“I’ve been thinking about what you asked me,” he says, his body relaxing as he changes tactics and the hair on my arm stands on end as I watch him walk into the kitchen and sit down at the table. Crap. I completely forgot about my epic brain to mouth filter malfunction while I was stressing about his reaction to Eden spilling the beans. I wish I could face palm myself right now because I never should have asked him that.
“Huh?” I ask, sticking to my innocent facade. He smirks and I can’t tell if it’s because he knows I’m lying my ass off or something else.
“The baby.”
“Oh, that…”
He nods. “Yeah… that.”
“Listen, you can just forget about that. I don’t know what I was thinking asking you with our history and everything. It was a terrible idea,” I tell him, leaning back against the counter as I shake my head. His face falls and he scowls.
“I was going to say yes.”
My heart kicks in my chest. “What?”
“Yeah, I thought about it and I think we should do it.”
“I… uh… what?” I stutter, staring at him with what I’m sure is a bewildered look. What the hell kind of game is he playing right now? There is no way in hell he is serious about having a baby with me but even knowing that… can I really pass up the opportunity? He nods again.
“Look, at first, I thought it was completely crazy but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. We always talked about having kids together and sure, this isn’t exactly how we planned it but, let’s be honest, neither one of us has been able to find anything better.”
I wince before I can stop myself. It’s not fair of me but it hurts like hell to hear him say that I’m an okay consolation prize. What did I expect though?
“No… Wyatt, we can’t do this…”
He scowls as he stands up and takes a couple steps toward me. My heart races. “This was your idea.”
“I know,” I breathe, my mind consumed with how close he is to me right now. There aren’t many things I wouldn’t give up to feel him wrap his arms around me again. “But like I said, it was a bad one.”
Closing the distance between us, he props his hands on the countertop and cages me in. His breath warms my cheek as his gaze holds me prisoner and I struggle to draw air into my lungs.
What the hell is he doing?
“Don’t you want a baby, Pip?”
I shake my head as tears sting my eyes at the nickname he used to call me when we were kids. “Don’t call me that.”
“Answer my question,” he whispers, leaning in closer and I try to take a breath as the blood rushes in my ears and my fingers ache to reach out and touch him. God, he smells so damn good and having him this close again is like everything I’ve wanted for the past ten years. “Do you want a baby?”
“Yes.”
His lips brush against mine and a breathy moan slips out. Pulling back slightly, his gaze meets mine again, desire pooling in his eyes and my belly clenches with need.
He looks like he wants to devour me.
“So, you want a baby and I want a baby… there’s just one thing I need first.”
“What?” I whisper, ready to agree to anything he wants if he will just lean in and press his lips to mine.
“Tell me what happened when you left me.”
Except that…
Shaking my head, I duck beneath his arms and cross to the other side of the kitchen as I suck air into my lungs and my head becomes clearer. “No.”
“Yes,” he growls as he spins around, leans back against the counter, and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t you think you owe me that much, at least?”
“Why rehash it?” I ask, twisting my gaze away from his as I mirror his pose, crossing my arms. “You already know why I left.”
He shoves off the counter. “That’s not what your friend, Eden, says.”
“Eden doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” I snap, reciting the urge to curl my lip in disgust. Gah, I can’t believe she did this to me. He takes another step toward me and I step back, my butt hitting the edge of the kitchen table as I gasp.
“You’re lying.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes,” he growls, closing the distance between us and grabbing my face to force my gaze to his. “You are. Why did you leave me?”
“You know why,” I whisper, unable to make the lie sound anymore convincing as his eyes fight to pry the truth from my lips. His gaze hardens.
“Before I came over here, I wasn’t sure if Eden was telling the truth or not but now I know she was. You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Pip.”
I rip my face from his grip. “Stop calling me that.”
“Tell me why you left me.”
“No,” I repeat, leveling a glare at him as I feel some of my strength slipping away. It doesn’t matter how much he begs, demands, or asks, I can’t tell him the truth. The way he sees me now, as a cold callous bitch, who ripped his heart apart, is better than the way he would look at me if I told him what really went down. This is for the best.
“Goddamn it, you’re so fucking stubborn,” he seethes, taking a step back as he takes a deep breath. I arch a brow.
“Look who’s talking.”
He shakes his head, staring down at my kitchen floor for a second before he looks up and meets my gaze, his eyes blazing. “If you want me to help you have a baby, you have to tell me. That’s the only way I’ll agree to it.”
My head spins as I try to work through his trai
n of thought.
Is this all about my request to have a baby?
Or is there more to it?
Is he just here playing games with me?
If he is, I’m fucking done going along with it. Shaking my head, I turn away from him.
“Forget about it. Like I said, it was a bad idea and I never should have asked you. I’m sorry.”
He grabs my arm, spinning me back to him and pulling me into his arms. I suck in a breath as I look up and meet his eyes. “What if I don’t want to forget about it? What if I don’t want to try and forget about you anymore?”
“What are you saying?” I whisper, searching his gaze but he doesn’t give anything away. My heart hammers in my chest as my body wants to melt into his as he presses himself against me, his arms locked tight around my waist.
He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something before clamping it shut again and his eyes search my face but before I get the chance to say anything else, he slips his hand into my hair and slams his lips down on mine. We move on instinct, coming together like we were never apart and my body sings as I wrap my arms around his neck and arch into him. His kiss is rough, demanding, and full of the pain of the last ten years but it’s exactly what I need, what I’ve craved since the moment I walked away from him. Gone is the boy who treated me with kid gloves but I can’t say that I mind all that much. He sinks his teeth into my bottom lip and I cry out. My nipples tighten as I rub my chest against him, needing more and he growls against my lips.
Gripping my hair, he pulls my head back and drags his lips down the side of my neck, ripping another moan from my mouth as he kisses, licks, and bites at my skin. My belly clenches and tears form in my eyes as he works his way back up to my kiss, claiming me, consuming me. Fisting his shirt in my hands, I cling to him as a delicious shudder racks my body and I whimper for relief.
God, I missed him.
“Piper,” he groans, grabbing my hips and pulling me closer as he thrusts forward, pressing his hard length into my hip. I moan again, desperate for all of him. “Fuck. I want you…”
I nod frantically. “Yes.”
With a sexy little growl, he lifts me off the floor and spins around before setting me on the counter. His hands roam all over my body, touching me everywhere he can reach as his mouth plants possessive kisses all down my neck and lips. My pussy clenches with need. Moaning, I slip my hands under his shirt, my fingertips dancing over the ridges of his muscles and he grips my hair again, pulling my head to one side as he kisses up my neck and releases a rough breath in my ear. I shudder.
“Wyatt.”
“Aw, fuck,” he whispers, his breath heating my skin before he drops his head back. “I missed that sound, baby.”
Pressing my lips to his neck, I start dragging his shirt up his body and he leans back to pull it over his head before grabbing my hips and slamming our bodies together again. Warmth floods my body and our heavy breaths fill the kitchen. He nips at my jaw as his hands slip under my tank top and he wastes no time ripping it over my head before reaching behind me and unhooking my bra. Cupping my breast in his hand, his groan rattles against my skin as he drags his mouth down to my chest and swirls his tongue over my nipple. My eyes close and I drop my head back and my fingers find their way into his hair.
“Oh, God… Wyatt.”
“Say my name again, Pip. Who do you belong to?”
I moan as my skin tingles. “You, Wyatt.”
“Damn fucking right you do,” he growls, slipping back up my body and claiming my lips again. Oh, fuck, I love possessive Wyatt. His hand slips into the back of my shorts and he grips my ass, pulling me into him as he thrusts forward. “Tell me why you left me?”
I shake my head. “No.”
His growl is more intense as he reaches between us and unbuttons my shorts before thrusting his hips against me again.
“Tell me.”
“No,” I snap, grabbing the back of his head and shoving his lips to my neck. He kisses and bites a line down to my shoulder and I gasp as he growls, biting me a little harder than before. Yanking me off the counter, he still manages to be gentle as he sets me back on my feet but as soon as I’m steady, he shoves my shorts down my legs and spins me around. My body throbs with need stronger than I’ve ever felt and my heart flutters as he grabs my wrists and plants my hands on the counter in front of me.
“Why did you leave me?” he growls in my ear. I hear the sound of his belt coming undone and my heart thunders against my ribs as my entire body tightens in anticipation. I shake my head again in response and his frustrated groan reaches me at the same time that he pulls my panties to the side and I feel the head of his cock press against my entrance.
“Tell me,” he demands and I shake my head again, squeezing my eyes closed and mentally begging for him to thrust forward.
“No.”
With a roar, he slams into me and I cry out, my fingertips gripping the counter in front of me as he grabs my hips and squeezes them to the point of pain. He pulls back and drives home again, his pace punishing and rough but it’s exactly what I needed. Leaning over me, he reaches around my body and wraps his hand around my throat, pulling me back to him and I moan. If this were any other man, the move would terrify me but not Wyatt. He’s always been my solace, my port in the storm and even in his righteous anger, I know without a shadow of a doubt that he would never hurt me. His fingertips trace the scar along my neck and he presses a soft, loving kiss to it. It’s such a contrast to the aggressive way he’s taking me that tears spring to my eyes again.
“Wyatt,” I whisper, pain swamping my chest as I feel his love, buried underneath years of hurt and anger, and my body tightens with my impending release.
“You wait for me.”
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
“Figure it out. You’ll wait for me just like you should have done ten years ago.”
Between the mention of our past and the demanding tone of his voice, I can’t hold it back any longer and I cry out as my orgasm tears through me. His grip on my throat tightens as he thrusts into me a few more times before tensing and groaning loudly in my ear. We both struggle to catch our breaths as the silence of the apartment becomes louder and louder, my mind racing with what we just did and wondering if he thinks it was a mistake.
Oh, God…
Please say something…
My heart races for a whole other reason as he pulls out of me and I hear his belt clink. When I spin around, he is pulling his jeans up and he refuses to meet my eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he leans down and scoops up his t-shirt before meeting my gaze with a sigh. We stare at each other for a second before he shakes his head and walks out of my apartment. The door slams behind him and I stare at it for a second before the tears start falling.
Chapter Thirteen
Wyatt
A heavy sigh slips past my lips and I close my eyes and I run my hand through my hair before opening them again and staring up at the same spot on the ceiling that I’ve been staring at for hours. I’ve been here, thinking and making myself crazy since three this morning when I was woken up by a very vivid dream of Piper and me, with just one thought running through my head.
I fucked up.
The plan when I went over to her house last night was simple enough. Step one, find out if Eden was telling the truth about Piper lying to me and if she was, get Piper to open up and tell me whatever this big secret is. Step two, find a way to get my woman back. I’m not naive enough to think that it will be easy but after my little revelation at the barbecue last night, it is the only option.
See?
Simple.
Except, as soon as I walked through the door of her apartment and saw the ridiculous little shorts she was wearing that showed off her toned legs and I remembered what it felt like for them to be wrapped around my waist, I knew I was I trouble. When the smell of her honeysuckle perfume, the same stuff she used to wear when
we were kids, surrounded me and I saw the framed photo of us on our wedding day proudly displayed on her bookshelf, I was fucking doomed. My head was swimming and I couldn’t ignore the way she makes me feel. It’s fucking insane that even after ten years apart, and all the pain and anger between us, that she can still do that to me but every cell in my body was screaming at me to pull her into my arms and never let her go again. I was going to use our connection and the insane chemistry between us to try and trip her up, forcing her into revealing something she didn’t intend to but I got careless and I was right there with her. Next thing I know, I’m balls deep inside my wife for the first time in ten years and demanding answers that she refused to give. Now, all I can fucking think about is doing it again. Groaning, I throw the covers off of my legs and sit up on the edge of the bed as I drop my head into my hands.
Fuck.
What a goddamn mess.
At least the night wasn’t a total waste, though. One thing I know for sure now is that Eden was telling the truth when she told me Piper is keeping secrets from me. Not that I know what those secrets are yet but as soon as I looked into Piper’s eyes, I knew she was lying. I honestly can’t believe I didn’t see it before and the other thing that became very clear to me last night is that Piper still loves me just as much as I love her.
So, why did she leave?
Shaking my head, I stand up and toss my covers back so the bed looks like I at least made an attempt to make it before I throw on some clothes and head downstairs. I don’t want to say that why she left me doesn’t matter anymore because I still want to know but it also has lost some significance after what happened last night. Whatever took her away from me ten years ago didn’t do anything to the love we share or our connection and if anything, I’m more determined to get my wife back than I was before. I’ve been a goddamn idiot for a decade and that ends now but first… I have to know what happened to make her leave me. It’s clear to me now that there never was anyone else if the look in her eyes and our wedding photo on her bookshelf is any indication but I am more confused now than I was before she walked back into my life.
